Phyllis Hemann's Blog

My Book Belongs to the World

the invisible heroine , my poetry chapbook from Finishing Line Press, is out and fluttering around the earth like wildflowers in an afternoon breeze.

These poems began in my heart, as a seed of an idea. They grew there. Some blossomed. Others wilted. I gathered the blooms into a bouquet, one by one, until it was complete.

Now that collection of poems, born of my heart and soul, exists physically in this world as a book.

And it's not mine anymore.

The beautiful thing about poetry is that it doesn't belong to anyone. It's a part of all of us –- a part of our shared existence. Yet, my poetry is unique from another writing about the same subject.

When it left my hands for that final time to enter into the actual printing process, I released those poems back into the wilds of the world. I bore them. I nurtured them. And now I let them go. This collection was not mine anymore, and that was both thrilling and terrifying all at once.

I love that my poems belong to the world. It's a whole lot of magic to me, and I am grateful to be a part of it.

Special thanks to Finishing Line Press, publisher Leah Maines and my editor Christen Kincaid; Melanie Johnston for the perfect cover art; Peter Levitt, Gini Koch and Leah Maines for blurbing my book with wonderful thought and insight; and all of you who have or will purchase a copy of the invisible heroine . I thank you!

Next Stop, A Poetry Book in the Making

The release date for the invisible heroine , June 19, came and went with little fanfare. So where is your copy of the invisible heroine by Phyllis Hemann?

Sadly, it's still in the printing queue. Printer delays pushed back the release by at least a month – but here's proof it's coming. My galleys of the invisible heroine are here! {much excited flailing}
For those who pre-ordered, I'll let you know when I have a more definite date from my editor at Finishing Line Press. I'm planning a release party, and I'll keep you updated on that as well. Those of you who have not ordered yet can snag a copy at the party!

Cover Reveal: the invisible heroine

A flurry of activity yesterday filled my heart with joy – including actual snow flurries and publisher emails.

I can now share the cover for my upcoming poetry chapbook, the invisible heroine , and announce that it is available to pre-order!

Contrary to what I mentioned on Twitter, (that I might “dematerialize into sparkly bits of joy”) I held myself together.

The poems in this book are from my heart, and I feel blessed to share them. It speaks to the universal struggle to create your own space in this world and imprint it with love.

This book was a gift to me and I am thrilled to share the poems in the invisible heroine with all of you. Special thanks to Melanie Johnston for the fabulous cover art!

It is available for pre-order from Finishing Line Press until April 24 for $12.49 plus $2.99 shipping (FLP offers discounted shipping during the pre-order period). You can order online at Finishing Line Press or send a check (contact me if you need the snail mail details). The book ships on the release date: June 19, 2015.

Writing in a Winter Wonderland

Never fear. The faux snow (ice) will not keep me from my writing or finishing this manuscript! Although watching this little bird and friends frolic amid said winter wonderland might. {snow days}

A New Year. A New Slate. A New Book

I made a promise to focus on the things I loved in 2014. No pressure. No fixed goals. I found a gift in that time. Focus on the things you love and your reward will be greater than you imagined.

I spent much of my time on surviving. Little by little, I found time outside of that to pursue what my heart called me to do. It's hard to plan when life is volatile.

I made small commitments. One of them was to my poetry. I would send it out to the world again. Even though some were dusty, I kept my promise. I polished old gems of verse and gave them new life. I penned anew. I inched forward each day building word upon word.

I'll admit it. There was a moment in time where I feared that I'd lost my ability to thread words into a magical pattern. In my struggle, I found a line of poetry written years earlier. It spoke to my loss and the necessity of hope - specifically. What fit nowhere years earlier, filled the hole in my armor. It spurred me forward because out there somewhere is someone else who needs that line more than I do.

A new collection of poems formed. Off these went mere days before I celebrated thankfulness. And as an early Christmas present, I learned of its acceptance. I was able to share the news with my family and a few friends over the holidays (an incentive to talk to me in person, *wink wink*).

And in this new year, a gift of a publishing contract for my poetry chapbook arrived. Finishing Line Press offered to publish, "the invisible heroine," and I accepted.

My commitment to what I love still stands. I'm thrilled that in 2015, I can share a piece of my heart with all of you.

"the invisible heroine" releases on June 19, 2015. You can pre-order from Finishing Line Press starting Feb. 23.

Trust Your Voice

Sunshine cannot bleach the snow,
Nor time unmake what poets know.
~~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Stop and Smell the Paper

I’m a believer in setting goals to help motivate and spur progress. Writers need to write consistently and goals aid a writer in doing that.
I’m not a fan of beating yourself up because you might not reach those goals as soon as you’d like. Life has a tendency to throw a wrench in your plans from time to time, and occasionally the whole toolbox blocks your way.
As some of you have heard me say before, at times you need to think about what you want to write. Sometimes you need to step back and relax.
For me, that’s the place I find myself in, through circumstances beyond my control.
This year my goal is only to focus on what I love. I have to trust that I am where I need to be and that is all that I can do right now.
In the end, I will emerge a stronger writer and person – and one more mindful of all the people and things that I love.
What will you focus on this year?

A Writer's Superpower: Staying the course

Staying power is a writer's best friend -- and a "superpower" you must develop if you want to conquer the writing universe.

I tell my students all the time that writing takes work. They cannot sit down and write their essays right before it is due and expect it to be good.

Do they listen? Some do; others don't. The difference for the ones who listen is they succeed.

As professional writers, we are not perfect. Our manuscripts do not exist in a perfect world vacuum. What we can do is hone and improve our manuscripts and writing.

Writing is a process. (If I had a dollar for every time that I said this to my students...) As writers, we learn how to navigate that process - hopefully to our benefit. We learn to navigate the ups and downs of the map of the writing world.

The main difference between a published writer and a non published one is the published writer never gave up. Perseverance is a key tool in a superwriter's arsenal.

What keeps you writing even when facing the uphill battles of the writing life?

The Work of Writing

When an editor sees the same promise that I do in a manuscript and wants to see more, it makes all the blood, sweat & tears worth it.

Keep honing your writing and it will happen!

Starts and Stops

Just like life, the writing life has its ups and downs.
I started out 2011 with clear-cut plans of what I was doing writing-wise and what I needed to finish.

In that time, I got a new job after looking for more than a year. I also lost a good part of the year to illness, major surgery and recovery.

Some would say this year was a writing bomb. But I don't. I see it as a step forward, even if my progress is smaller than planned.

It's like participating in NaNoWriMo. I don't see that time as a failure because I didn't finish. I see it as a success, as I moved forward with my writing. I have words that I didn't before. Of course it could be more, but it's more than if I didn't try.

It's how you handle both the peaks and valleys that defines you as a writer.

The good thing is that you can remake yourself as a writer. Each and every writing challenge that comes, you can adjust to meet them. Life sometimes has to take shotgun - whether it's your kids, family, work, health or other life issues - at times these need undivided attention. Adjust your schedule or plan accordingly, so you can continue to write.
Whether it's five words, or 100 or 1000 that you can write, that's progress. It's all about balance, and that' something you can always adjust.

I ended the year on a positive note. I'm beginning to feel like myself again for starters. And I completed the editing with my editor for my picture book, The Trouble with Frightful (Fall 2012ish), and moved forward in the publishing dance.
2012, here we both come...I hope! It’s time to start dreaming.

What are your dreams for 2012?